Four words to consider this morning: Ritual, Tradition, Doctrine, and Dogma what
do they mean to you.
June 23, 2019 Galatians
3:23–29 Psalm 133
First, some background about
the Galatian Churches. Paul had a hand in
establishing the churches in Galatia, so he writes to them concerned
about problems that exist there. Most
all of the early churches were made up of different ethnic groups who committed
to following Jesus along with many Jewish converts. The thrust of Paul message to them was a
gospel message of justification by faith
in Christ Jesus. What did that mean, it meant that they were
justified, or made right, forgiven, by faith in Christ Jesus, which would lead
to live a life based on the way Jesus lived: ethical, moral, sacrificial and it is the same for us today.
All
they needed was faith to enter into this new life with Jesus. Paul new that salvation would not come by following
Jewish law but by the grace of God and a transformed life brought about by
following Jesus. However, some of the early leadership was holding on to this old idea and
continued to teach it. They taught
that in order to become a person of The Way {or as we would say today to become a
Christian,} you first had to become a Jew; abiding by all the requirements of
the Jewish rituals and Law, all 613 of them which included circumcision. Paul was adamant and disagreed with this sort
of teaching.
So I ask you: what about the church of today: in your opinion Is there anything in our traditions,
our rituals, doctrine or dogma that needs to re-visited and possibly changed.
A Churches traditions, rituals, doctrine
or dogma have never saved anyone, Pauls message was and still is: Christ is the saving grace who makes you a
new creation and Jesus is the only one who can do that. Does this prayer sound familiar? May
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore. I say a form of it at the beginning of most
worship services. It is called “The
Grace Prayer”.
Why then should we be paying so
much attention to a bunch of rules and traditions which don't accomplish
anything significant in my personal relationship with Jesus and often do not
reflect the hope, peace, joy and love of Jesus? In fact rules and traditions often divide
people and promote politics within the church, which by the way, help to keep
folks from living a life that exemplifies Jesus. It's within
the context of spiritual freedom vs. the 613 Jewish Laws, that Paul writes his
letter.
That was Paul's message to the
churches in Galatia some 1900 years ago. What does it have to do with us today? May I suggest that we can identify with some
of the things happening in Galatian church.
Not all Christians view things the same and many refuse to accept the
politics that seem to be running many of our churches today. Many are now operating as though we are a
corporation not a church. Meetings
imitate a form of Roberts Rules of Order, many individual churches are often
held hostage to some form of academia.
Especially when it comes to fellowship around communion, baptism, or who
can lead the flock. Theological
credentials or a degree in theology have become the order of today but even
then, we often have many views and disagreements as to what label is the right
label to belong to, as we search for who really has the truth?
A common "Point of
Identification." with the early church would be found in the sacrament of Baptism. Although there is one Christian fellowship
that does not perform baptism for its members, any guesses. { A research question for you} We as did the early church experience baptism
as a form of re-birth. Meaning we have a sense of "Before baptism and
After." The difference for the
early church was their “before” was related to living under those 613 rules of
Jewish law. Their “after” was freedom
from the law to live a life that reflected the life and teaching of Jesus The
Christ. Our “before” is living
according to how we see it, by making up our own personal set of rules as we
go. It is often an unwritten law taught
by the modern world and hidden in this statement: “I am the most important thing in my life
and my needs comes first. No, No we
were never like that!! but we knew lots
of people who were, right! The “after”
for us is often thought of as the answer to this question: Are you saved; but an answer in words will make no sense if the
fruit of their vine has not changed and is visible. The
true after for us today is a new life a life in Him. Now... freedom in the Spirit Not free to
do whatever you want, but Free to live for God; free to love your neighbour as
yourself; free to bear anothers burdens; free to be helpful and do good to all
people; Free to set aside protocol and tradition
when love calls you out to focus on Christ-like behaviour. Loving our neighbour and foe, when everything
we are told by the world around us, indicates otherwise. Free to give, when society says hoard. Free to inconvenience yourself for the sake
of someone else.
No longer... Like the well-known
passage about Jew & Greek, Slave and free.
Our distinctions and differences are important but we no longer focus on
them because our focus is on unity, meaning one together in Christ. Maybe for us that verse should read, "No
longer... Rich and poor? The in crowd
verses the out cast? the Laity verses Clergy? Young verses old, Male
verses female? We are now one in Christ. Now we are equals and more. The old distinctions are still there, but
they don't matter. We don't dwell on
them and get caught up by them. It's not
"who's who" that matters, but “who’s you are”. Now we can deal with each other on a new
level, as "One in Christ."
That implies, respect, listening, honesty, trust, and real equality, the
inclusiveness of Jesus. The old has gone,
everything is made new. Paul gives us a warning: Don't
go back to the old ways!! “Repent is the
biblical word. ”The old way doesn’t
work! Don't spend all your energy trying
to justify yourself and live up to society's requirements. Instead, get a grip on faith & grace. Cling to Christ. Live in the Spirit. Love freely.
Let us pray
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